Everyone Likes to Get Down & Dirty
So I mentioned yesterday that I ran my first 10K race in Philadelphia’s first annual Merrell Down & Dirty Mud Run this past weekend.
However, in all the post-race chaos, I failed to snap a photo of Chuckles and me in all our dirty glory. I wish I had the excuse of being on hardcore hallucinogenics at the time, but I don’t. I just totally didn’t even think about it.
I am, in the words of Napoleon Dynamite, a frickin’ idiot.
Anyway, despite being a total flake, I still pulled it together enough to take some candid photos of my fellow runners braving the mud pit.
And, man, do I love these people.
![First](http://domesticatingkate.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/first.jpg)
Everyone seemed to have a different strategy when it came to the mud pit.
Some tackled the challenge head-on.
![Head-On2](http://domesticatingkate.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/head-on2.jpg)
![Head-On](http://domesticatingkate.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/head-on.jpg)
Some tried a more delicate approach.
![Delicate](http://domesticatingkate.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/delicate.jpg)
![Delicate2](http://domesticatingkate.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/delicate2.jpg)
And some came prepared for whatever happened.
![Prepared](http://domesticatingkate.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/prepared.jpg)
Goggles. Genius.
Then there were those who got by with a little help from their friends.
![Together](http://domesticatingkate.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/together.jpg)
While some required other forms of, uh, gentle encouragement?
![Encouragement2](http://domesticatingkate.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/encouragement2.jpg)
![Encouragement3](http://domesticatingkate.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/encouragement3.jpg)
![Encouragement](http://domesticatingkate.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/encouragement1.jpg)
“You’re a very nice person!” this drill instructor was yelling. “You’re also a snazzy dresser and I admire your haircut!”
Basically, the moral of the story was this: You either embraced gettin’ down & dirty.
![Embrace1](http://domesticatingkate.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/embrace1.jpg)
![Head-On3](http://domesticatingkate.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/head-on3.jpg)
Or you didn’t.
![Didnt2](http://domesticatingkate.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/didnt2.jpg)
![Didnt1](http://domesticatingkate.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/didnt1.jpg)
But, it didn’t really matter. Because, either way, you got down & dirty.
![Dirty3](http://domesticatingkate.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/dirty3.jpg)
Dirty.
![Dirty2](http://domesticatingkate.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/dirty2.jpg)
Dirtier.
![Dirty](http://domesticatingkate.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/dirty.jpg)
Dirtiest.
After all, this wasn’t the “Merrell Clean & Sanitary Mud Run”.
![Muddy_Man](http://domesticatingkate.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/muddy_man.jpg)
This man had no sympathy for anyone, by the way.
And we all made it to the Finish line with smiles on our faces and mud in our teeth.
![Finish1](http://domesticatingkate.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/finish1.jpg)
![Crowd_Wild](http://domesticatingkate.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/crowd_wild.jpg)
And the crowd goes WILD!
And, in the end, it was well worth the dirty running shoes.
![Trash](http://domesticatingkate.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/trash.jpg)
![Trash2](http://domesticatingkate.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/trash2.jpg)
Or maybe not.
But, hey, at least we got free burgers afterward.
![Burger](http://domesticatingkate.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/burger.jpg)
And that’s all I need to call it a good day.
Long live the Down & Dirty!
![Flag](http://domesticatingkate.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/flag2.jpg)
Comments
LOVES IT…however next year, I want to be invited…but I can only participate in the 5k…anything more and I would die. :)
P.S. You seriously did laundry after this? I would have thrown it all in the trash… LOL~!
You go girl!
Thanks! You’ll definitely have to come next time — if for no other reason than the after-party! :)
And Ell ended up doing the laundry so I dodged a MAJOR bullet!
Laughed at the picture of the trash can. Didn’t see that coming.
[…] try to absorb the endorphins via osmosis and beer. Click here to see the last race I watched, and here for my friend Erin’s experience at the Merrell Down & Dirty Mud Run) Share […]